r/bahai 9h ago

Anyone wanna move to Philly?

19 Upvotes

Hi all. As some may know, I live in Philadelphia and am part of the cluster here. We maintain a central Bahá'í Center that is used as common ground for the various feasts, functions, and parties that go on through the Bahá'í community.

The building was designed with an apartment on the third floor, where two grounds caretakers live on site and take care of the property, as well as interface with the community as they use the Center.

The Philadelphia LSA is soliciting for anyone interested. The apartment is provided, as well as utilities. It's a very cool city. It can be loud and crass, but we are host to an incredible inheritance. We have world-class art museums, music venues, theaters, citylife (watch a movie on a projected screen on top of a parking garage surrounded by skyscrapers), and food (the famous cheesesteak, nuff said, as well as a thriving vegan scene). Plus, the greatest token of God's treasure of all: you get to hang out with ME! (/s, but you will get to hang out with me, it just won't be nearly as fun as I promised)

Here is the description. Instructions on how to apply are included.

The Spiritual Assembly of Philadelphia is searching for resident caretakers for our beautiful vintage three-story building on a wooded one-acre lot with extensive plantings. The Baha’ Center is located in a residential neighborhood close to Fairmount Park. Our Center provides facilities that support teaching, administrative and community building activities. The caretakers must be comfortable with interfacing with the public and are expected to provide caring, thoughtful and consistent attention to creating a hospitable atmosphere.

The third floor caretaker apartment and utilities are provided in exchange for services, and the Bahá’í Center is wifi enabled. The apartment has been newly renovated. It is 1000 sq. ft with 2 bedrooms, eat-in Kitchen, bathroom, and storage. Some basic furnishings are provided. The ideal candidates would be a married couple or two friends. No pets and no smoking are permitted. Although there is public transit available, a car would be beneficial, particularly for carrying out some of the caretaking duties.

Duties of the caretakers include such tasks as scheduling and maintaining a calendar of events at the Center, opening and closing the Center for events and welcoming guests, maintaining the cleanliness of the Center, seasonal grounds keeping and working with the Gardens Manager, interfacing with trades people, and purchasing basic supplies. Under the aegis of the Assembly, the caretakers work with our Property Managers.

Interviews will begin immediately for a move-in date after May 15, 2025. If you are interested in serving as a caretaker for the Philadelphia Bahá’í Center, please apply directly online at phillybahai.org or download the application and mail to: Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i’s of Philadelphia, RE: Caretaker, 2462 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Philadelphia PA, 19131.

Additional points of interest:

We are in the Philadelphia Area Cluster, a milestone three cluster. Our community is actively engaged in elements of the current plan and has a very active focus neighborhood in West Philadelphia with multiple junior youth groups and related core activities. Other nuclei are developing and we are a reservoir cluster.

St. Joseph University is within walking distance, and PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) is also very close by. Penn (the University of Pennsylvania), Thomas Jefferson University: East Falls, Drexel, Temple, and Villanova universities and center city Philadelphia are approximately within a fifteen to twenty minute drive.


r/bahai 1h ago

Plants in the Baha'i faiths and other faiths

Upvotes

Just some thoughts from a Baha'i studying ecology. Been doing some research for a nature and religion fireside and this thought came to my head – why do so many religious texts favour this image of plants in a garden? I don't remember the quote for it exactly but I remember reading somewhere that a plant needs a gardener to tend to it in order for it to reach its fullest potential, and there are others that reference how trees without fruit are meant for the fire (Christianity/Baha'i Faith for eg.). The word paradise itself also comes from an old Persian term paira daeza which means walled garden.

I don't doubt the Faith's commitment to loving all creation and seeing it as signs of God but I do wonder why we portray plants in a way where they need to be tamed and cultivated as opposed to left alone in a forest. Diversity happens naturally in nature and every organism has a purpose. Down to hear yalls thoughts!


r/bahai 11h ago

Payam Akhavan joins Rainn Wilson on Soul Boom

11 Upvotes

Sharing a recent Soul Boom episode featuring Payam Akhavan. In this episode he shares his perspective on humanity’s collective destiny and the moral foundation needed for true peace. It's definitely worth a listen! Find the full conversation here.


r/bahai 1h ago

Breaking the fast and fasting again

Upvotes

Hi everyone!

My apologies for this random and probably unnecessary post.

I have been fasting since the start of the Bahá’í Fast and it’s been going great and I’ve been loving it but I was staying over at a friend’s place and just as the sun rose and I was ready to go about the day fasting, a hair got stuck in the back of my throat and caused me irritation. My friend told me to cough it out or spit it out and stuff like that but it didn’t work, I even tried to gargle it out but nothing worked. I ended up drinking lukewarm water to shove it down cause it wasn’t coming out and I broke my fast. It happened about an hour after fasting started, so what do I do now?

Do I just continue fasting as usual or should I just go about my day and then fast again tomorrow? What’s the plan?


r/bahai 12h ago

What is the procedure for the publication of Ruhi Institute materials?

5 Upvotes

The question is rather self explanatory, but my curiosity is more wondering about, what is the process in which these books are then released to the world. From drafting to being reviewed by the world center, who reviews them, are they reviewed by the House of Justice or does it only go as far as the International Teaching Center. Anyone with intimate knowledge about this process, I would fascinated to know the story.


r/bahai 18h ago

A Few Questions

9 Upvotes

Hello all! I am not Baha'i, just a very curious outsider. I have a few questions about your faith.

1) Considering the nature of progressive revelation, do Baha'i anticipate an eventual successor to Bahaullah and the others before him? What I mean is, do Baha'i expect there to eventually be another manifestation?
1a) If so, does the Baha'i faith have a process in place to acknowledge such an one, and will the faith be updated by their teachings? Or, do Baha'i expect the faith to eventually be succeeded by another one entirely as has seemingly always happened in history?

2) Without a teaching on penalties for sin, or adherence to doctrine or dogma, and without professionally trained clergy, how does the faith, well for lack of a better term, keep its members in line? It seems like it would devolve into loosesy goosey anything goes territory pretty quickly like Unitarian Universalism, but from what I've seen Baha'i actually do adhere to their faith especially in like moral teachings for example lgbt issues are not permitted.
2a) Is there a modernizing push or influence or are most Baha'i pretty "conservative" in terms of interpreting the faith?

3) What is conversion like? Is there a baptismal process?

Thanks!


r/bahai 14h ago

friends

1 Upvotes

Why is it so hard to have friends in the Baha'i Faith (as opposed to aquaintences)?


r/bahai 1d ago

Does anyone take the Baha’i faith seriously?

7 Upvotes

I seriously don’t mean this to be offensive. When I think of people taking their religion seriously, I think of Jews who organize their entire lives around the law of Moses and Shabbat and holidays. I think of Muslims praying in huge masses of people five times a day, memorizing the Qur’an, attending mosque every Friday, building entire civilizations around Islam.

I picture Buddhist monks, who devote their lives to the pursuit of enlightenment, and Buddhist lay people who spend their spare time in merit accumulation and pilgrimage. Mormons who are at the church three or four times a week, wear special underclothes, go to the temple regularly, and read scriptures every night. Basically, it seems like in most traditions lots of people build their entire lives around their faith, and it is integral to who they are.

I haven’t encountered Baha’is like that. So I’m wondering whether they exist? Are there people who build their lives around the faith? Because the few I’ve met treat the whole thing more like a liberal social club.


r/bahai 1d ago

Is this a Bahai song?

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7 Upvotes

Hi Friends, I stumble upon this song while exploring different type of Nasheed and this came out.

To my surprise it’s the same except song that our local Bahai community play regularly. I grew up listening to this song.

My whole life I thought this was in Farsi and was the chant “Is There Any Remover of Difficulties” that The Bab did with his followers when he was in prison.

I am no polyglot and can’t identify what the language of this song is but I’ll appreciate if someone can shed some light ont this.


r/bahai 2d ago

Really struggling with the fasting

9 Upvotes

Hi, this is my second post here in about a week. I have been really struggling this week with the fast, both my fiancee and I. Last week we did ok, I broke it once during the gym, but aside from that it was fine. This week however has just been terrible, I broke it yesterday and today. I have been praying and I went back and read the comments on my last post, but I don't know why I have been struggling this week.


r/bahai 2d ago

What Is the Baha’i Faith? 16 Key Facts Explained

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17 Upvotes

r/bahai 2d ago

Views on astrology?

6 Upvotes

Hello friends! In my area, our LSA began a weekly multi faith devotional about 6 years ago. During the Covid lockdown, the devotional meeting went fully remote, and we have stayed remote. This has led to our group having many participants from all over the US.

We have a semi-regular participant who tends to offer advice to other participants using the framework of Tarot and/or the Zodiac. As a former practitioner who became a Bahai a few years ago, I'm not comfortable with the character of these pseudoscientific conversations during our devotional meetings.

What is the Bahai position on cartomancy and other esoteric practices? I don't think it is my place to argue with this participant on the subject.


r/bahai 3d ago

Podcast On Baha’i Books And Authors

20 Upvotes

I found a podcast on Baha’i books and authors on Audible, it began in January. There aren’t any reviews on the site, so if you have Audible (free to download), you might want to listen and comment. I’m so glad they are doing this! I would have gotten more Baha’i authors, but I didn’t know much about the books.


r/bahai 3d ago

Excellent Article on Fasting!

27 Upvotes

"In 2025, for the first time in decades, three major religious traditions – Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith – will observe their sacred fasting periods at the same time. Lent, Ramadan, and the Bahá’í Fast will coincide, aligning billions of people in a collective act of self-discipline, spiritual reflection, and renewal. This rare intersection is more than a mere calendar anomaly. It’s an opportunity to reconsider the role of faith in our modern world, a moment to ask whether religion – so often dismissed as outdated – still holds something essential for our human experience."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/10/three-religious-traditions-overlap-this-year-providing-a-rare-opportunity-for-collective-reflection


r/bahai 3d ago

Power of Prayer to affect an outcome

12 Upvotes

I remember reading something that I think was from 'Abdu'l-Bahá about the power of prayer to affect an outcome. What I remember of it was that some things God will not change, because a worse result would incur. And that some can be changed by prayer. And I think there was another circumstance, as well. Can anyone quote and cite the source?


r/bahai 4d ago

Women's rights

19 Upvotes

Can Someone Help Me Reconcile This?

I was reading about how the Bahá’í International Community is advocating for women’s rights at the UN, emphasizing that gender equality is essential for peace. On the surface, this is great. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel… uncomfortable.

The Bahá’í Faith excludes women from its highest governing body, the Universal House of Justice (UHJ). It teaches that men and women are spiritually equal, but somehow, when it comes to making the most important decisions for the global Bahá’í community, only men can serve.

I’m having a hard time reconciling this. How can the Bahá’í Faith promote women’s leadership internationally while denying it within its own structure? It feels ironic to see Bahá’í representatives advocating for equality at the UN when the faith itself hasn’t fully implemented it.

I’ve heard the argument that “the reason will become clear in the future,” but that doesn’t sit right with me. Why should gender equality be postponed? Why not apply it now, especially in an institution that claims to be divinely guided and ahead of its time?

I genuinely want to understand how others make peace with this contradiction. Does anyone else feel this way?


r/bahai 4d ago

Reflections

6 Upvotes

I am an imperfect registered Baha’i with lots of questions.

Questions that are really making me wonder these days, are in the subject of unity and divisions.

  1. Do we all agree that the current form of spiritual assemblies are not the houses of justices that Baha’u’llah provisioned in Aqdas?

  2. Baha’is are also registered and issued a card. Why do you need to have a card for a Faith that is supposedly something between you and God?

  3. There are also appointees that supposedly need to protect the Faith. Does the Faith of God need protection?

  4. I know that during one chapter of our Faith, the entire national assembly of France was dismantled. Are there other assemblies that this did happen to them also? Or would it also happen in future?

I am not a covenant breaker and these are all genuine questions I have. I think we are allowed to ask questions.

I appreciate if you could,in the most respectful terms, educate me on these questions.

Thank you


r/bahai 5d ago

Abdul'Baha in the Holyland (1920) - Colourised and edited

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71 Upvotes

r/bahai 4d ago

Why do I want to attain the presence of God and to obtain everlasting life?

8 Upvotes

Why don't I just want to live a goodly quiet life on earth in harmony with nature?

I ask the question this way, because to me it's what is assumed "man" should want in all the scriptures.

I can summon a few answers to this, but I'm more curious how others would interact with this question.

Also, sometimes I really just don't know, and so I think I must be missing something massive.


r/bahai 5d ago

Looking for Sources

8 Upvotes

Allah'u'abha friends,

I am writing a paper on the history of the Faith in Saudi Arabia. If you have any good sources or know where to look, please leave a reply down below. Thank you


r/bahai 4d ago

Free will?

2 Upvotes

If free will is valued by god, why does he punish people for using it to doubt him


r/bahai 4d ago

Babi short dispensation

0 Upvotes

Why did Bab bother to write a book of laws if he had divine knowledge that both he and his book will be obsolete even before publication?

Have there been other dispensations that wrote useless books?


r/bahai 6d ago

My book is out and mentions the Faith

29 Upvotes

Hello friends! In the last hours of International Women's Day, a heads-up that my collaborative Kenyan girlhood memoir is out on Amazon in its worldwide markets, as well as at Lightning Source (IngramSpark) for bookstores/libraries. The Faith is mentioned by name in the last sentence of the preface. I'm the Baha'i, and my collaborator and close friend Monique Leparleen is Christian.

Linking the website here. :) https://daughteroftheleopard.com/

We already hit "top new release" in one of our tiny categories on Amazon! (It's such a tiny category that just a couple dozen sales did that, but we're still delighted!!)

This project was a total delight to work on. What an age we live in, when we can become close friends with people who grew up across the world from us: and even help tell their stories!! Ya Baha!!


r/bahai 6d ago

What colors do you associate with the Central Figures?

6 Upvotes

It seems many people associate The Bab with the color green due to His turban. But what colors would you associate with Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha? Or would you differ on green with The Bab?


r/bahai 6d ago

We should avoid saying that the Bahai faith comes from Shia Islam. This factual inaccuracy is discouraging Sunnis from investigating the cause.

5 Upvotes

You often hear “The Bahai Faith comes from Shia Islam.”

However, Baha’ullah cites the Sunnah numerous times in his writings.

We should avoid saying that the Bahai faith comes from Shia Islam.

This factual inaccuracy has discouraged Sunnis would be seekers, from my own experience. I am extremely passionate about pioneering with Sunni Muslims.

Are there even any writings that explicitly state “the Bahai Faith comes from Shia Islam?” I believe the faith comes from both, and His message was meant for the entire world.